Corset-fasten ing



(No Model.)

E. A. PYLE.

CORSET FASTENING.

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UNITED STATES rrrcn.

PATENT EHMA A. PYLE, OF NEWV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO HUGH K. ANDERSON, OF NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE.

CO RSET-FASTEN ING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.3=6,442, dated July 27, 1886.

Application filed February 11,1886. Serial No. 191,625. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Emm A. PYLn, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Spring Locking Mechanism for Corset-Steels, of which the following is a spccification.

This invention relates to that class of spring locking devices for corset-clasps which comprises spring-impelled hooks pivoted at one end to one steel and acted on by pins secured to a longitudinally-sliding strip on such steel, said hooks engaging hooks secured to the other steel.

My invention has for its object to improve such mechanism and provide a device for each pivoted hook,which not only serves as a guide and rest for the hook on the opposite steel, but also serves as a guide for the longitudinally-sliding strip that actuates the lockingcatches.

The objeotof my invention I accomplish in the manner and by the means hereinafter described and claimed, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of the inner sides of the steels, showing the latterseparated; Fig. 2, a similar view of the steel which carries the locking-catches, omitting the cover-plates of the latter; Fig. 3, a front view of the steel shown in Fig. 2, with the cover-plates in position.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will 110w describe the same in detail, referring to the drawings, where the number 1 indicates a stay or steel having a series of rigidly-attached hooks, 2, projecting from one ofitslongitudinal edges. The other steel, 3, is provided with a series of locking-catches, 4, corresponding in number to the books on the steel 1. The lockingcatches are journaled adjacent to the middle of their length upon or to pivot-pins 5 on the steel, in proximity to transverseattached plates 6, to which are attached one end of flat springs 7, the other and free ends thereof acting against the heels or tail-pieces 8 of the locking-catches, so as to normally hold the latter in position to engage the hooks on the other steel. The plates 6 extend somewhat beyond the outer edge of the steel 3, in order to constitute guides for the hooks and to sup port the hooks, so that they will be held in engagement with the catches until the latter are operated to disengage them from the hooks. A narrow metal strip or plate, 9, extends longitudinally along the inner edge of the steel 8, and is providedwith offsets, lugs, or projections 10, which engage theheels or tail-pieces of the locking-catches in such manner that if the strip 9 be moved downward upon the steel the heels of the catches will be depressed, and the locking ends of the catches thereby released from engagement with the hooks on the steel 1. At the pivotal point of the catches they are provided with shoulders, in the form, as here shown, of angular or V-shaped extensions 11, which serve as abutments to limit the movement of the hooks 2 when inserting them to engage the catches.

The lockingcatches, spring, and transverse plate are covered and protected by coveror cap plates 12, clasped around or otherwise secured to the steel in such manner that the fabric of the corset or of the covering to the steel cannot interfere with the effective operation of the locking mechanism, while at the same time the cover or cap plates serve as guides and retainers to the longitudinally-movable strip which actuates the catches.

In order to move the unlocking plate or strip 9, I p'rovide it with an attached knob or fingerpieee, 13, the shank of which projects through a slot, ll, in the steel, whereby a downward pressure exerted on the linger-piece will move the strip and simultaneously operate all the catches to release them from the hooks. The cover or cap plates constitute housings to the locking mechanism, and their outer ends are open or slotted for the entrance of the hooks between the transverseattached strips and the locking-catches.

\Vhat I claim is- 1. The combination, with a corset stay or steel having attached hooks, of a stay or steel having a series of spring-catches pivoted intermediate their ends to provide tail-pieces in rear ofthe pivots, and a longitudinally-sliding strip having oifsets which engage said rearwardly-extending tailpieces, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a corset stay or steel, of a corset stay or steel having pivoted spring-catches provided with rearward-projecting tail-pieces, a longitudinally-sliding strip having offsets engaging said rearwardeXtending tail-pieces,and plates secured to the steel oppositethe catches, respectively, each of said plates extending at one end across the sliding strip to guide the same, and at the other end serving to guide the hook on the opposite stay or steel and hold' it in engagement with its catch, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a corset-stay, 1, having attached books .2, of a stay having catches 4, pivoted intermediate their ends, and 15 provided at one edge with laterally-projecting abntments ll, thelongitudinally-sliding strip 9, having offsets 10, engaging thetail ends of the catches, and the plates 6, projecting forward beyond the edge of the stay and rear- 20 ward across the sliding strip, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

EMMA A. PYLE. Witnesses:

O. F. BROWN, N. M. HUGHES. 

